Fire Building

Generally speaking, it’s a safe bet most are familiar with starting a fire

Putting down some kindling, adding newspaper or other dry bits like birch bark in and around the kindling with lots of space for fire to breathe, top it off with a few larger pieces of wood on top. Light the bottom paper and the flames wick up through the stack of kindling. Classic Tipi style so to speak.

But have you ever heard of doing that the other way around… same materials but stack it upside down ?

Start with large pieces of firewood on the bottom, followed by the medium sized pieces, then the kindling on the very top with a few bits of paper, birch bark or similar combustibles.

The secret to the success of making a fire this way is that the kindlings hot embers and ashes will fall on the next level of fuel. The fire burns much hotter because you get larger unobstructed flames within minutes of starting the fire. These hot embers stay on the fuel and not under it and less smoke is created through the ignition phase.

If you follow the directions correctly you’ll have a fire that starts quicker, creates less smoke, burns hotter, and produces less ashes. Best of all the fire will burn for hours without having to add additional firewood.

Are you sceptical ? Give it a try!